Tuesday 8 October 2013 17.28 EDT
First published on Tuesday 8 October 2013 17.28 EDT

Guardian writers' predicted position: 1stLast season's position: 3rd

If last season was a season of transition for Melbourne Victory, then this one will be fun to watch. Super coach Ange Postecoglou is already the most successful Australian club manager with four grand final wins, and a third premiership/championship double for Postecoglou is by no means an unrealistic objective this season.

Postecoglou's two and a bit season spell at Brisbane Roar was not only enormously successful, with the club winning the double in season six, the title in season seven and going 36 games undefeated in-between, it was also revolutionary in the A-League. Brisbane, by playing attractive, possession-based football, showed the way forward for other clubs and were the benchmark for the continued progression of the league.

Last season, Postecoglou's first at Victory, was considered a transitional year – one for the coach to implement his philosophy – but from day one the signs of a deadly style of play were evident. By the 25th minute of their round one game against Heart, Marco Rojas and Archie Thompson had combined for the first time. It was a combination that everyone knew would come, but no-one knew how to stop it. A narrow semi-final loss to eventual champions Central Coast ended their season, but Postecoglou's disappointment showed how determined he is for his sides to succeed.

This time around, with 12 months to employ his style, and 12 months to cut the players not up to the required standard, everyone is expecting a better, more refined version of Melbourne Victory. The team's pre-season showing against Liverpool showcased the club and the A-League to the rest of the world, and they did everyone proud, causing frequent problems for Liverpool's defence.

But causing problems for the opposition's defence was always going to happen. Victory had the best attack in the league last season (along with Central Coast) and possessed the league's best attacker in Marco Rojas … aka the Kiwi Messi. They've lost Rojas, who moved to VfB Stuttgart, but their list of attackers is scarily good.

Thompson and youngsters Connor Pain and Andrew Nabbout have been joined by Kosta Barbarouses (23, from Alania Vladikavkaz) and Mitch Nichols (24, from Brisbane Roar), both of whom have played under Postecoglou at Brisbane. Socceroo James Troisi (25, on loan from Atalanta) has also joined, and Gui Finkler's return from a long term knee injury can be considered a new signing.

Victory may have lost Rojas and Marcos Flores (who never really suited the False 9 role anyway) but their attack looks to have only improved. But, as with last season, their attack wasn't the issue. Melbourne scored 48 goals during the regular season, but conceded 45. The defensive issues were the real signs of transition. If a style of play is new to the whole team, mistakes are inevitable. If an attacker misses a one-on-one or doesn't make the correct run, the damage isn't as detrimental as if a defender chooses the wrong option when playing out or doesn't track his runner. Last season, Melbourne Victory had too many defensive lapses, too many players unsuited to Postecoglou's style of play and too many key injuries.

Postecoglou has been ruthless in his handling of unsuitable players and will hope to have found the right defensive balance for the new season. Petar Franjic, Matthew Foschini, Diogo Ferreira, Sam Gallagher and Tando Velaphi were all released, and Melbourne will instead hope that Nick Ansell and Adama Traore have an injury-free season, that Adrian Leijer returns to his pre-Fulham form and that new signing Pablo Contreras lives up to his marquee status. Fans will still hope to see plenty of the clubs talented young defenders, such as Scott Galloway, Jason Geria and Dylan Murnane, but not under the same circumstances as last season.

One of the major off-season coups for Melbourne, apart from the signing of Contreras, was retaining Mark Milligan. Milligan, who was heavily pursued by Crystal Palace, has been appointed captain, taking over from Leijer. His midfield role was essential to Melbourne's performances last season and saw him return to the Socceroos to play a major role in Australia qualifying for Brazil 2014. Milligan is up there with Alessandro Del Piero and Thomas Broich as the best player in the league, and his ability to play accurate vertical passes and break up opposition attacks is vital for Melbourne.

Victory's need to retain Milligan became more vital after Billy Celeski, another who flourished under Postecoglou's system, moved to the UAE. While they'll be without Milligan and new signing Barbarouses for their opener against Melbourne Heart, both away on international duty, Victory will be many people's favourites for the A-League title. It will be a scary proposition for opponents that last year's 'transitional season' was still a success: Postecoglou has assembled a fantastic squad and there's no reason why they won't improve.